Racing to Ruin (GM Reference)


Serpent's Skull

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Hopefully others can use this thread to clarify questions arising in this adventure. If you happen to see another thread, please link post a link in this one to try and keep things tied together.

Chapter 1: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
Chapter 2: Racing to Ruin
Chapter 3: The City of Seven Spears
Chapter 4: Vaults of Madness
Chapter 5: The Thousand Fangs Below
Chapter 6: Sanctum of the Serpent God


Do we have any idea when this should ship to subscribers? Since the last shipments included two books, I'm not sure when the next will come, but I'd like to know until what date I can add other products to the shipment! :-)

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32, 2012 Top 4

Mid- to late September, I think.

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32, 2012 Top 4

Ok, I'm only a dozen or so pages into the adventure (which ROCKS, by the way!) and I have a question about the factions.

I understand that the PCs are supposed to ally with one faction and then gain another faction as a rival. What happens to the remaining factions? As written, does the adventure assume we're supposed to ignore the remaining factions?


I've only skimmed over it myself, but the sidebox on page 55, one of the entries is a +4 PA award -1 for every other faction to get there first, so just looking at that, the assumption is that the other factions are competing. I think the "faction rival" is just to be used when directly confronting the rival in certain encounters.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tom Qadim wrote:

Ok, I'm only a dozen or so pages into the adventure (which ROCKS, by the way!) and I have a question about the factions.

I understand that the PCs are supposed to ally with one faction and then gain another faction as a rival. What happens to the remaining factions? As written, does the adventure assume we're supposed to ignore the remaining factions?

In this adventure, the non allied, non rival factions are simply racing to be the first to discover the ruins. The elements of faction competition heat up quite a bit more in the third adventure, which will have stats for all five faction leaders and sample faction enforcers.


Are there stats for the Hellsting Wasp, Maka-Yika, Frog Cactus and Snappervine?
The artwork and writeups of the flora & fauna section are great, I'd like to use them in the game.

Grand Lodge

Zen79 wrote:

Are there stats for the Hellsting Wasp, Maka-Yika, Frog Cactus and Snappervine?

The artwork and writeups of the flora & fauna section are great, I'd like to use them in the game.

ditto

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Zen79 wrote:

Are there stats for the Hellsting Wasp, Maka-Yika, Frog Cactus and Snappervine?

The artwork and writeups of the flora & fauna section are great, I'd like to use them in the game.

The hellsting wasp is basically just a giant wasp with some flavor on it. They're meant to be the wasps PCs can encounter in the adventure (see area X1 for stats).

The Maka-Yika is basically a piranha swarm; they'll have stats in Pathfinder #39.

The frog cactus and the snappervine have no stats. They're unusual, but relatively harmless when it comes to menacing PCs, and thus don't need stats.


So, the party are trailblazers with their faction's expedition travelling a day or two behind them. As they travel, they come across encounters that can save them time. For example, the salt mines cave, if they clear it, the expedition saves a day of travel. Is there a presumed method that the PCs are suppose to use to contact their expedition to let them know to use these shortcuts? At first I just assumed that they could use markers and signs at the beginning of these alternate paths, but as is the case of the salt mines, they'd have to travel all the way back to the beginning of the caves to let the expedition know to use this path instead. Which seems to defeat the feel of a race. Is there something that I'm missing? If not, I plan on giving the PCs a silver raven wondrous figurine or some sort of paired set of messenger rings.

Sczarni

TerraZephyr wrote:
So, the party are trailblazers with their faction's expedition travelling a day or two behind them. As they travel, they come across encounters that can save them time. For example, the salt mines cave, if they clear it, the expedition saves a day of travel. Is there a presumed method that the PCs are suppose to use to contact their expedition to let them know to use these shortcuts? At first I just assumed that they could use markers and signs at the beginning of these alternate paths, but as is the case of the salt mines, they'd have to travel all the way back to the beginning of the caves to let the expedition know to use this path instead. Which seems to defeat the feel of a race. Is there something that I'm missing? If not, I plan on giving the PCs a silver raven wondrous figurine or some sort of paired set of messenger rings.

Message is a 0 level arcane spell (but has distance limit)... Locate Creature is 4th.... prestidigitation "we went this way ->" onto a rock is 0 level (but only lasts an hour not a day)

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
TerraZephyr wrote:
So, the party are trailblazers with their faction's expedition travelling a day or two behind them. As they travel, they come across encounters that can save them time. For example, the salt mines cave, if they clear it, the expedition saves a day of travel. Is there a presumed method that the PCs are suppose to use to contact their expedition to let them know to use these shortcuts? At first I just assumed that they could use markers and signs at the beginning of these alternate paths, but as is the case of the salt mines, they'd have to travel all the way back to the beginning of the caves to let the expedition know to use this path instead. Which seems to defeat the feel of a race. Is there something that I'm missing? If not, I plan on giving the PCs a silver raven wondrous figurine or some sort of paired set of messenger rings.

I figure the party will have couple level 1 or 2 Commoners with Light Horses to act as messengers. They can take messages from the Party to the Main Body of the expeditions. It states the party is moving at a average speed of 30 ft per round. The Main Body is moving at 10-15 ft per round. A light horse moving at 50-60ft per round can easily ride between the two.

-Remoh


James Jacobs wrote:

...

The Maka-Yika is basically a piranha swarm; they'll have stats in Pathfinder #39.

...

Great!


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

I need a plausible reason for the various factions to find out that the party knows clues about the whereabouts of Saventh-Yhi.

The default assumption is that the NPCs tell their associated factions that the party knows something about Saventh-Yhi but the NPCs in our play session know zilch.

Reasons - the party undertook the exploration of the temple ruins on Smuggler's Shiv without the NPCs in tow (the NPCs manned the cannibal camp to provide security for the newly established base camp at the lighthouse).

Upon finishing the temple complex, the party decided to be tightlipped and not revealed what they found out to the NPCs, so beside generalities that the party explored some ruins and fought quite a few undead and that the varisian was in fact some sort of serpent folk, the NPCs know nothing.

When asked by me if the characters were going to discuss their findings with others (either the NPCs or someone on the mainland) they said 'No' (I suspect after many years of playing campaigns, they learned the old adage that 'loose lips sinks ships' and they always hoard info unless absolutely necessary.

Some background info. Two of the party members are fledgling Pathfinders, who have a cordial relationship with Gelik but view him as a potential rival.

The party blew the knowledge roll about the significance of Saventh-Yhi. I was going to have Gelik fill them in on that but they aren't sharing anything with him which would allow me to provide the party with the information.

Yarzoth didn't get to impart any info to the party because the party immediately attacked and downed Yarzoth with few confirmed crits.

The party's intention at this point is to 'go it alone' so it looks like they aren't going to report what they found to the venture-captain. When I asked the pathfinder character's players why not, they said they had nothing really to report at this time and besides, the venture-captain may assign the mission to more capable pathfinders other than them and they want this to be 'their' mission.

No one can read 'Aklo' so they don't know what Yarzoth's notes contain and they think any sage or translator will be an information leak so they are looking for someone they can trust.

Ideas? The party's paranoia is warranted somewhat but their 'security measures' are making the necessary information leak to the other factions unlikely right now.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Black Moria wrote:

... No one can read 'Aklo' so they don't know what Yarzoth's notes contain and they think any sage or translator will be an information leak so they are looking for someone they can trust.

Ideas? The party's paranoia is warranted somewhat but their 'security measures' are making the necessary information leak to the other factions unlikely right now.

How about one or more of the factions check out Smuggler's Shiv as a new "Base of Operations." They can find the ruins and put together the information on thier own.

Also, eventually the party will have to put together an expedition. Of course gathering supplies, porters, guides, etc will attract a bit of attention. This can spark the rival factions to find out what is going on and form their own expeditions.

Just a couple of ideas. I worry about this also. My players tend to be a bit Paranoid to begin with.

-Remoh


Black Moria wrote:
I need a plausible reason for the various factions to find out that the party knows clues about the whereabouts of Saventh-Yhi.

Unfortunately, that kind of attitude is more likely to make the Society want to take the mission away from them when they find out about it...

The NPCs may not know enough to spill the beans outright, but they know enough to get things rolling. Since the PCs are likely to be allied with the Pathfinders to begin with, I'd set it up this way: the NPCs, particularly Ishirou, return to their factions and say, "Hey! We got shipwrecked on Smuggler's Shiv, and there were some old ruins some of our party explored! Also, there was something about some serpentfolk?"

Especially since the Aspis Consortium leader is an arcanist, what happens next requires only a little bit of forcing. Dargan Etters uses a few carefully selected divinations to learn more (possibly contact other plane from a scroll, for instance), and when the name "Saventh-Yhi" comes up, that's pretty much all he needs. At that point, the Aspis Consortium begins making plans to outfit an expedition, and the other factions use bog-standard industrial espionage to find out what's happening.

There's an interesting end result from this, of course: the Pathfinder Society, and in particular their Venture-Captain, will get annoyed with them for withholding valuable information, and probably berate them somewhat, even threatening to have another Pathfinder lead the expedition. The PCs can grovel and apologize and work their way back into the Pathfinders' good graces... or maybe the Aspis Consortium will hear of the dispute, and "sympathetically" offer the PCs a more forgiving employer...?


Sounds like my players, I probably won't be playing SS for a while but I've already been thinking about scenarios like this because I know my players are prone to that type of security measures.

You've said 2 of the players are pathfinders but don't have anything to report yet.

OK. So, let them find someone that they can trust to translate the information and then they'll have something to report.

They report to the pathfinders. The patherfinders have a mole in their organization (probably Aspis). The Aspis agent also has been bribing someone in the Sargava government (to make his spying job easier). The Sargava government man hires a Red Mantis assassin to kill the Aspis agent. The assassin kills him, finding the information that he stole from the pathfinders. At this point, Pathfinders, Aspis, and Red Mantis know the information with perhaps the Sargava man suspecting something.

Anyway, once they get the information translated and then do something with the information it'll be a lot harder to keep it contained.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

I'm having trouble figuring out how the random encounters are supposed to work in this volume.

We have many days of travel time between locations, which to me suggests potentially many random encounters. Yet the opening pages of the bestiary don't offer me any help.

Should we be reusing the rules from Smuggler's Shiv? (ie check 4 times a day, minus 5% for each "defender", etc?)

Sovereign Court

Erik Freund wrote:

I'm having trouble figuring out how the random encounters are supposed to work in this volume.

We have many days of travel time between locations, which to me suggests potentially many random encounters. Yet the opening pages of the bestiary don't offer me any help.

Should we be reusing the rules from Smuggler's Shiv? (ie check 4 times a day, minus 5% for each "defender", etc?)

How often random encounters happen is really up to you, to liven up the PCs' journey, but a good guideline is 10%, 4 times per day (dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight). If this seems like a lot, then you can reduce it twide a day (once during the day, once at night). You probably shouldn't use the rules from Smuggler's Shiv, because the PCs won't have a base camp with dedicated defenders like they had on the island.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

I just want to say: I love the outside-the-box and not-using-normal-rules situations I'm running into in this module. The spirit journey was great. I'm definately going to flesh that out and make it a larger ordeal. Also the Totem Animals as an alternative-reward meshed very nicely when it shows up later in the mod.

Bravo! More of this please.

Scarab Sages

Rob McCreary wrote:
Erik Freund wrote:

I'm having trouble figuring out how the random encounters are supposed to work in this volume.

We have many days of travel time between locations, which to me suggests potentially many random encounters. Yet the opening pages of the bestiary don't offer me any help.

Should we be reusing the rules from Smuggler's Shiv? (ie check 4 times a day, minus 5% for each "defender", etc?)

How often random encounters happen is really up to you, to liven up the PCs' journey, but a good guideline is 10%, 4 times per day (dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight). If this seems like a lot, then you can reduce it twide a day (once during the day, once at night). You probably shouldn't use the rules from Smuggler's Shiv, because the PCs won't have a base camp with dedicated defenders like they had on the island.

Some of it might depend on the players as well. Sure they 'know' they have to push and be the trailblazers, but some bad rolls could have quite a number of the party down from diseases. If that happens the party may decide to 'spend' a few days in camp to recover.

And just because the party encounters something, doesn't mean they need to fight it, they could always go around stuff... of course that might mean it is now in the way of the main body... decisions, decisions!


The salt mines cave mentions that the previous owner accidentally shattered the blue orb and thereby unleashed the undead. However, the text then goes on to say the players can stop the undead by shattering the orb.

I take it the previous owner, now a cairn wight, touched the orb to unleash the evil?


NPC Dave wrote:

The salt mines cave mentions that the previous owner accidentally shattered the blue orb and thereby unleashed the undead. However, the text then goes on to say the players can stop the undead by shattering the orb.

I take it the previous owner, now a cairn wight, touched the orb to unleash the evil?

I read it that Feran had shattered it as in "put a large crack in it" and that to destroy it, the PCs have to shatter it completely. Not sure if that's right but that's how I saw it. It's a 20 ft. dome that it says they live in now, so I saw a big crack as a front entrance.


Do the Faction Leaders GO on the expedition or do the PCs lead?
It did not seem explicitly clear to me in my reading of Ruin.

thanks


I believe the faction leaders go with the expedition but stay with the main force as the PCs are trailblazers.

Sovereign Court

1 person marked this as a favorite.

TerraZephyr is correct. The PCs are the heroes, so they're the trailblazers. The faction leaders lead the main expedition—they should be in the background (and in fact, don't get stats until Pathfinder #39).

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

In X13, it's mentioned that the Charau-ka are arguing over some spoils, but there's no treasure listed in this room. Was this dropped accidentially, or should it just be some worthless fragments or stones that might be good throwing weapons or something?

Sovereign Court

1 person marked this as a favorite.
JoelF847 wrote:
In X13, it's mentioned that the Charau-ka are arguing over some spoils, but there's no treasure listed in this room. Was this dropped accidentially, or should it just be some worthless fragments or stones that might be good throwing weapons or something?

Those spoils became the crystals needed to activate the pillars of light in area X11, and were distributed throughout Tazion. So that's a reference that should have been cut and that we missed, unfortunately.

That said, you could easily give them a little bit of treasure to be fighting over—good throwing rocks like you mentioned, or a handful of low-value gemstones, or the like.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Temple of the Snake has numerous tar / asphalt pits. All quite flammable. Knowing my players, it is going to be accidently or deliberately (the party spell casters like fire spells) set on fire.

The place where I work (college in a small northern community) was having a new tar roof being applied when something caught it on fire. Massive flames, black toxic smoke and very hard to put out (if fact, they bought in a water bomber to 'bomb' the tar fire but the fire department managed to get it under control)

Given the depth of at least one of the tar pits, once a fire starts in there, it is not going out anytime soon.

Now the questions:

What are the effects of black oily toxic smoke if combatants stick around? It will obviously obscure visibility (probably to 5 feet range). Would imposing some sort of 'poison' damage like effect on creatures in the area be too harsh?

What do the charau-ka at the location do? Stay and fight or beat feet out of there?

What does the rest of the inhabitants of the Tazion do? A large cloud of black insidious smoke is bound to attract attention. Do creatures from outside the enclosure walls move in to investigate or flee the area.

How long before the temple becomes safe for exploration again? I imagine a 14 foot deep pool of asphalt is going to burn for some time. Several days I would think. Thoughts?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

There are rules for smoke in the game already; page 444, under "Smoke Effects." I would apply those rules to pretty much everything in the vicinity, although I would also say that while the smoke creates a stink and a haze in the air, that it's only really choking and obscuring relatively close to the burning tar pit.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

I'd also suggest a DC 5 (or even DC0) intelligence check before anyone starts throwing fire around to give them a warning of the repercussions - that they might choke themselves to death, burn up the treasure or more importantly, whatever they're looking for that will point them in the right direction for the lost city, etc.

If they still choose to light the tar pits, that sucks for them.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

In the Sargavan Guide, Finze Bellaugh (male human wizard) is listed as the Venture Captain for the region. Can we get anymore information on him?

I figure, he should play a big role in getting PCs to join thier faction.

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

When I was re-reading through RtR I noticed something strange:

In their respective statblocks, Eleder is listed as a "small city" and Kibuto is listed as a "large city."

From reading the fluff, I got the impression that Kibuto was no larger than a "large town" and barely holding on to existence. And that Eleder was the teeming capital of Sargava.

So I'm confused: am I just misled by the fluff, or did the statblocks get switched? If the former, could someone help me put into perspective why the seaside port is smaller than the inland border-city?


Black Moria wrote:

I need a plausible reason for the various factions to find out that the party knows clues about the whereabouts of Saventh-Yhi.

We are in the same situation with my party; other castaways stayed at the cannibal camp and started to fix the lighthouse while party explored the ruins.

The solution I am preparing is to expand the chapter in Eleder with a bit of intrigue and personal interaction. I don't know in your campaign, but in mine some PCs got quite close to the NPCs (especially after they discovered that helpful castaways granted boons!). This can result in good conversation on a general level (for instance, Ishirou looking for some "business" after the treasure hunt). PCs might let something slip on their own.

Second option, have your PCs need more info to pinpoint Tazion. They'll have to visit the library archives, where faction members may start piecing things together out of the info they request. Oh, and remember the notes in Aklo, they might need a translator too, more people on the knows...

Three: Sargavan government is out for cash, given its desperate financial situation. PCs trying to sell treasures from the Shiv (which look definitely ancient and valuable) may end up being officially interrogated (remember current dislike for adventurers in Eleder). The Sargavans can send a small group of officers to research the Shiv's ruins... and once the government knows about it, other factions are sure to find out too, via spies, infiltrated agents or corrupt or big-mouthed officers.

Four: as a variant of the above, if a PC is a native Eleder colonial, his or her family can play the "pushy act". Divided loyalties are a good role-playing element.

Five, a heavy-handed variation of 1: if a PC is friendly with one of the castaways, they can have a good old fashioned night out. Engaged in friendly conversation, have the PC make Will saves as he or she gets intoxicated to avoid spilling the beans... Actually, somebody like Sasha could think the PCs have some "secret" from their explorations and try to add some "truth drug" to a tankard or two. This works especially well with players interested in getting inside one of the NPCs pants!

For a twist, if your PCs have been enforcing secrecy cuz the ruins are "their baby", it could be funny to submit a few (or all) of them to one of these scenarios without the other players' knowing. Then, when the secret is out, there's going to be good argument among them about who spilt the beans! (and a laugh it will be if each one did).


Erik Freund wrote:

When I was re-reading through RtR I noticed something strange:

In their respective statblocks, Eleder is listed as a "small city" and Kibuto is listed as a "large city."

From reading the fluff, I got the impression that Kibuto was no larger than a "large town" and barely holding on to existence. And that Eleder was the teeming capital of Sargava.

So I'm confused: am I just misled by the fluff, or did the statblocks get switched? If the former, could someone help me put into perspective why the seaside port is smaller than the inland border-city?

The book says explicitly that Kalabuto is bigger than Eleder (no page number right here). Eleder is the "capital" for other reasons, mainly sea access and harboring facilities for ocean-going ships. Though Kalabuto's export activity is increasing, Eleder is the source for most imports, especially the luxury kind of stuff high classes demand. More than a "teeming capital", Eleder is a struggling colonial capital, but with a strategic location. Also, it boasts to have most of the colonial aristocracy in residence, and we know Sargavan colonials are a traditional, elitist bunch, to say the least. Kalabuto is the big resource provider, more "mass but no class", from a colonial POV.

If I got it right, Kalabuto was already an established Mwangi urban center before the coming of the Chelaxians, who just took over. Colonial economic activity has just made it grow faster. On the other hand, Eleder began from scratch as a colonial settlement. Also, except for the pineapple fields and smelting, most of Eleder's economic activity seems to be ocean-bound. Kalabuto will probably attract a larger proportion of permanent or semi-permanent residents.
Also, given the threat of Mzali, it makes sense that peoples from the area (closer to Mzali) do move to the security offered by a large settlement, producing a recent growth of Kalabuto from population in surrounding smaller settlements.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

Thanks Andreas.

I missed the "Kalabuto is a Mwangi city that the Chex conquered" whereas "Eleder is a Chex city from the ground up" angle. That really helps.

So, I have to wonder, do these two cities trade with each other at all? If so, how? There are references to "dangerous trade routes" between the two cities that are apparently super-dangerous even for the PCs. I guess I'm wondering why the party decided that trudging through an abandoned salt mine is a great idea. Why not take the road that the guy-that-delivers-the-fur-hats takes?


Erik Freund wrote:

Thanks Andreas.

I missed the "Kalabuto is a Mwangi city that the Chex conquered" whereas "Eleder is a Chex city from the ground up" angle. That really helps.

So, I have to wonder, do these two cities trade with each other at all? If so, how? There are references to "dangerous trade routes" between the two cities that are apparently super-dangerous even for the PCs. I guess I'm wondering why the party decided that trudging through an abandoned salt mine is a great idea. Why not take the road that the guy-that-delivers-the-fur-hats takes?

QUOTE="Erik Freund"] Thanks Andreas.

I missed the "Kalabuto is a Mwangi city that the Chex conquered" whereas "Eleder is a Chex city from the ground up" angle. That really helps.

So, I have to wonder, do these two cities trade with each other at all? If so, how? There are references to "dangerous trade routes" between the two cities that are apparently super-dangerous even for the PCs. I guess I'm wondering why the party decided that trudging through an abandoned salt mine is a great idea. Why not take the road that the guy-that-delivers-the-fur-hats takes?

PCs take the road through the mines (actually it's their choice) because it's a shortcut, and they are on a race to find Tazion before the rival factions.

For what Heart of the Jungle. Sargava the Lost Colony and the PF Campaign hardcover say, there's of course a degree of trade between Eleder and Kalabuto, with some important elements:

1) decades ago, Kalabuto was something like 100% dependent on Eleder to get out import and exports (sea trade). Now, the situation is changing and Kalabuto is getting more integrated in land trade routes.

2) Sargava is far from "civilized". Trade caravans are probably more numerous than a PC party (also, the sources say that "caravan guard" is one of the staple professions for adventurers, so routes are all but tame).

3) Another recent factor, as per the campaign setting's timeline is the resurgence of Mzali as a pretty xenophobic and anti-outsider power. That the party runs into the tree with hung natives a bit before Kalabuto and is ambushed by Mzali rangers almost in the outskirts of the city indicates a recent factor for that insecurity.

4) Sargavan (colonial) economic distress due to the tribute to the Free Captains has probably had an impact in the government's capacity of keeping a good patrol system and other perks, so most security in the trade routes would be private investment by the different merchant companies.

It helps to think that Sargava is not a colonial empire, like the English Raj in Asia, but a small colonial state whose metropolis is hostile. They exert power and authority over the territory, but not as much as expected from a full-blown imperial outpost. Probably a sizeable trade organization (like the Aspis Consortium) has more resources available in the zone. Then, they are not interested in developing the nation, only in furthering their trade interests.

It is useful to compare rebellious Sargava with "Faithful Korvosa", a Chelish colony with whole Thrune support. If you check CotCT and the Guide to Korvosa, you see that their resources and authority in the area are far bigger, and that most conflict comes from inner Chelish division (the Magnimar split).


Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!

Are they going to get a lot of screen time? IIRC, some of the designers said that the third AP installment is going to give info for the rival factions, including faction leaders and associated NPCs from Souls for Smuggler's Shiv. I'll personally save the effort until I've seen AP39.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Andreas Skye wrote:
Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!
Are they going to get a lot of screen time? IIRC, some of the designers said that the third AP installment is going to give info for the rival factions, including faction leaders and associated NPCs from Souls for Smuggler's Shiv. I'll personally save the effort until I've seen AP39.

Just planning waaaay ahead, so not sure if they'll even survive that long. Just going off the note on page 8 to "bring them up to the PCs level". Sounds like a good plan to hold off.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Andreas Skye wrote:
Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!
Are they going to get a lot of screen time? IIRC, some of the designers said that the third AP installment is going to give info for the rival factions, including faction leaders and associated NPCs from Souls for Smuggler's Shiv. I'll personally save the effort until I've seen AP39.

There'll be info on the rival factions in the third AP, but we aren't going to manually level up the castaways from the first adventure ever. We'll periodically mention stuff about what they could be up to, but the development and fates of those NPCs is very much intended to be something that each campaign develops on its own.


James Jacobs wrote:
Andreas Skye wrote:
Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!
Are they going to get a lot of screen time? IIRC, some of the designers said that the third AP installment is going to give info for the rival factions, including faction leaders and associated NPCs from Souls for Smuggler's Shiv. I'll personally save the effort until I've seen AP39.
There'll be info on the rival factions in the third AP, but we aren't going to manually level up the castaways from the first adventure ever. We'll periodically mention stuff about what they could be up to, but the development and fates of those NPCs is very much intended to be something that each campaign develops on its own.

So no small notes on the order of "Sasha (CN Rgr 3 / Rog 4)"? I was not thinking of full stat blocks, but likely class and lvl notes for those times they might show up.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!

Taking on the info from RtR, I would suggest this update:

Aerys, Fighter 2 -> Fighter 2/Rogue 2
Gelik, Bard 2 -> Bard 4 (with a focus to get Pathfinder Savant Prestige Class)

Jask, Cleric 2 -> Cleric 4
Ishirou, Rogue 2 -> Rogue 2/Free Hand Fighter 2
Sasha, Ranger 2 -> Ranger 4 (maybe take Boon Companion at 5th if she got her Dimorphodon)

Just some suggestions


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

All helpful and/or informative. Thanks!


remoh wrote:
Jason Lillis wrote:
Anyone have creative ideas for advancing the SfSS NPCs to the appropriate level in RtR? I know how I usually do things, and I'm looking for something different. Thanks!

Taking on the info from RtR, I would suggest this update:

Aerys, Fighter 2 -> Fighter 2/Rogue 2
Gelik, Bard 2 -> Bard 4 (with a focus to get Pathfinder Savant Prestige Class)

Jask, Cleric 2 -> Cleric 4
Ishirou, Rogue 2 -> Rogue 2/Free Hand Fighter 2
Sasha, Ranger 2 -> Ranger 4 (maybe take Boon Companion at 5th if she got her Dimorphodon)

Just some suggestions

That makes really good sense to me. I'd just be careful with Sasha. If she does get more involved with Red Mantis in the future, certainly a couple levels of Rogue would be fitting, but advancing her to Rgr 4 to get her Dimorphodon as companion is certainly good thinking.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

One thing I'm noticing in the Legacy of Fire campaign I'm currently part of is that there isn't a ton of time for crafting things, magic or otherwise. I guess the PCs could use whatever time they like at the beginning of Racing to Ruin (or even on Smuggler's Shiv), to do some crafting if that's something they want for their characters. Anyone ever made house rules about crafting on the road? I guess a wizard could always sleep during the day in the back of his wagon and take care of crafting while the party is stopped for the evening. Thoughts?

Scarab Sages

Jason Lillis wrote:
One thing I'm noticing in the Legacy of Fire campaign I'm currently part of is that there isn't a ton of time for crafting things, magic or otherwise. I guess the PCs could use whatever time they like at the beginning of Racing to Ruin (or even on Smuggler's Shiv), to do some crafting if that's something they want for their characters. Anyone ever made house rules about crafting on the road? I guess a wizard could always sleep during the day in the back of his wagon and take care of crafting while the party is stopped for the evening. Thoughts?

There are rules for crafting on the road. Pg 549 of the Core book.

Basically during breaks and such during the day the crafter is putting in 4hrs of work to get 2hrs of creation time completed.

So if they are making something of 1000gp (or less), it will take 4 days.
Of course they can also bump the DC by +5 so that every 4hrs of work results in 1000gp worth of item completion (instead of 8hrs of work for 1000gp).


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
W. John Hare wrote:
Jason Lillis wrote:
One thing I'm noticing in the Legacy of Fire campaign I'm currently part of is that there isn't a ton of time for crafting things, magic or otherwise. I guess the PCs could use whatever time they like at the beginning of Racing to Ruin (or even on Smuggler's Shiv), to do some crafting if that's something they want for their characters. Anyone ever made house rules about crafting on the road? I guess a wizard could always sleep during the day in the back of his wagon and take care of crafting while the party is stopped for the evening. Thoughts?

There are rules for crafting on the road. Pg 549 of the Core book.

Basically during breaks and such during the day the crafter is putting in 4hrs of work to get 2hrs of creation time completed.

So if they are making something of 1000gp (or less), it will take 4 days.
Of course they can also bump the DC by +5 so that every 4hrs of work results in 1000gp worth of item completion (instead of 8hrs of work for 1000gp).

Ah ha! Read right past that part. Thanks for the help!

RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16

Legend:
T = abandoned aqueducts
U = tower of serpents
V = temple of the snake
W = well of screams
X = azlanti temple

I'm confused about the Tazion aqueduct system.

It says that the charau-ka don't know the aqueducts exist, but there's no reference to secret doors, perception checks, etc in any of the areas (particularly area T). How did they not stumble into them? What does area T look like? The above-ground portion is not described (and I can't figure it out from the map on 51).

If I'm reading correctly, the aqueducts are underground tunnels with four branches, one each to areas T, U, W, and X, with the caveat that X's has collapsed (which is confusing, as X has no basement). The description in area W is clear as to how it connects. But to connect U and the rest of the network, it would have to go under a tarpit: does this not leak down into the tunnel?

I'll assume the tunnels never go under area V.

Area U is a "Tower", right? I'm assuming therefore that most stairs lead up? Or is it a very short, flat tower? How does it connect into the aqueducts? (And why wouldn't the snakes fall into the tunnels, as there's enough of them as to carpet the floor?)

Thanks for your time!

Sovereign Court

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Erik Freund wrote:

Legend:

T = abandoned aqueducts
U = tower of serpents
V = temple of the snake
W = well of screams
X = azlanti temple

I'm confused about the Tazion aqueduct system.

It says that the charau-ka don't know the aqueducts exist, but there's no reference to secret doors, perception checks, etc in any of the areas (particularly area T). How did they not stumble into them? What does area T look like? The above-ground portion is not described (and I can't figure it out from the map on 51).

If I'm reading correctly, the aqueducts are underground tunnels with four branches, one each to areas T, U, W, and X, with the caveat that X's has collapsed (which is confusing, as X has no basement). The description in area W is clear as to how it connects. But to connect U and the rest of the network, it would have to go under a tarpit: does this not leak down into the tunnel?

I'll assume the tunnels never go under area V.

Area U is a "Tower", right? I'm assuming therefore that most stairs lead up? Or is it a very short, flat tower? How does it connect into the aqueducts? (And why wouldn't the snakes fall into the tunnels, as there's enough of them as to carpet the floor?)

Thanks for your time!

The charau-ka may be aware of the surface openings to the aqueducts (area T), but not how extensive they are or where they run. The description for area W states that Raogru has told them that the well (and likely other subterranean areas in the ruins as well) leads to the underworld where their serpent-god lives, so it's not hard to imagine they haven't explored those tunnels.

The map on page 51 shows what the aqueducts look like on the surface. It slopes down to the east and becomes an underground tunnel off of the map.

It's unclear where the northern aqueduct originally led. All we know is it went to a stone tower that no longer exists. While it could have gone to X, there's no reason it had to. Basically, there's only an entrance left—there's nothing else left of that aqueduct. The southern tunnel does go to U, and under the tar pit. It's easy to say that it goes deep enough to be completely below the tar pit, or you could say that that portion of the tunnel does have tar dripping from the ceiling and pooling on the floor, but not enough to flood the tunnel or affect the tunnel like a full tar pit.

Area U is a ruined tower—the upper levels are now gone. The stairs to the east actually lead up from the ground into the tower. The stairs to the north lead up to a shaft in the floor that drops down into the aqueduct. So for the snakes to drop into the aqueduct, they'd have to climb a flight of stairs first, then drop down the shaft.

Unfortunately, this kind of confusion sometimes happens with maps. We do our best to catch any confusing bits or errors, but sometimes they still slip through. In any case, there are no errors here, just a few areas that could have been better described.

Hope that helps!

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